Last week we looked at the difficult task given to prophets to teach people to fear the Lord. This week, we explore another side to the prophetic ministry - the precious ministry of comfort.
Part of the prophets' ministry is to reveal a God to be feared and to warn his people of their danger if they persist in their wrongdoing. Using abrasive speech, they may castigate the people for their disobedience to God's laws and spell out the consequences of continuing rebellion.
But there is another side to the prophetic ministry. "Comfort, comfort my people" (Isa 40:1) is a commission not to Isaiah only but to all who are anointed by the Spirit for the prophetic ministry. We shall not have a complete picture of what a prophet is unless we include his ministry of bringing God's comfort to his people in distress.
We do not have a complete picture of the prophet unless we include the ministry of bringing God's comfort to his people in distress.
Words of Comfort
The Hebrew word for 'comfort' most frequently used in the Old Testament comes from a root meaning 'to sigh or to breathe deeply', and indicates the sympathy in the heart of God. The word for 'compassion' comes from a root meaning 'to fondle' and stresses the intimacy existing between God and his people. It is from this same root that the symbolic name given by God to Hosea's daughter (Lo-Ruhamah, meaning 'not loved') is taken (Hos 1:6).
In the New Testament the words which are translated 'comfort' mostly begin with the prefix 'para' which we have in our English word 'parallel', indicating a 'running alongside'. This gives us the verb parakaleo, meaning to call alongside, and parakletos, the noun which we know in English as 'Paraclete', Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit. These words stress the fact that God draws near and enters into our situation.
Jesus' promise translated in the older versions as "I will not leave you comfortless" is really "I will not leave you as orphans" (Greek: orphanous, John 14:18). These words in both Testaments reveal the heart of the God, whose total character prophets are called to proclaim.
Both Old and New Testaments reveal that God's heart is full of sympathy towards his people and that he desires intimacy and closeness with them.
The God of Comfort and 'Compassion'
God describes himself as the One who comforts his people. "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men?" (Isa 51:12). There is no reason to be afraid of men and of what they might do to us, when we have such a God caring for us.
David was under attack by ruthless men who were seeking his life. Mercifully there was a 'but' to be taken into consideration, for he goes on to say, "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God" (Ps 86:15). We must always remember the God-factor in assessing the situation in which we find ourselves.
The writers of other psalms unite in declaring that "The Lord is gracious and compassionate" (Ps 111:4 and 145:8), and assure us that "The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made" (Ps 145:9). What a privilege prophets enjoy in being responsible for proclaiming God's goodness!
The prophet Isaiah instructs God's people to sing for joy as they are assured by the Lord that in his compassion he will bring his exiled people back to their homeland: "See, they will come from afar...shout for joy...for the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones" (Isa 49:12-13). God did not cease to care for his people because they had sinned against him, and that concern is still true today.
God did not cease to care for his people when they sinned against him – and that is still true today.
Isaiah also foretold that Yahweh would comfort Zion and rebuild her: "The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, and her wastelands like the garden of the Lord" (Is 51:3). Surely this is a promise to claim on behalf of some of the devastated churches of our day.
Jeremiah pictures God's people returning from exile with weeping but goes on to say, "Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow" (Jer 31:13). How good when all ages can share together in the wonderful things that a God of comfort loves to do for his people.
Towards the end of Old Testament history when the seventy years' captivity in Babylon was nearly over, the question was addressed to the Lord, "How long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem?" In reply, "The Lord spoke kind and comforting words" (Zech 1:13). What a privilege the prophets of today enjoy when they speak 'comforting words' in the name of the Lord!
What a privilege today's prophets enjoy when they proclaim God's goodness and speak his comforting words!
God's Promised Comfort Delayed
The Old Testament makes it clear that God's comfort may be delayed, as the writer of the longest psalm discovered: "My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, when will you comfort me?" It is not long before we discover that we are in a hurry, but the Lord is not! God, from time to time, and for reasons best known to himself, does hide his face from his people and allow them to experience the 'dark night of the soul'. "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Ps 30:5). "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer" (Is 54:7-8).
The prophet Jeremiah, with all the sad experiences described and wept over in his book of Lamentations, nevertheless comes to the conclusion that "It is because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithful¬ness" (3:22-23). God and his promises will not let us down and we can confidently pray, "May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant" (Ps 119:76).
For reasons best known to himself, God sometimes hides his face and allows his people to experience the 'dark night of the soul'. But this does not last forever - God's promises never fail.
God's Compassionate Comfort Described
God's care for his people is said to be like that of a mother for her child. "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you" (Isa 66:13), but in another passage the same prophet affirms that God is more reliable in his caring than even the most devoted mother: "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isa 49:15).
The prophet Moses complained that God was expecting him to mother the children of Israel and he exclaimed, "Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land of promise?" (Nums 11:12). Moses is not the first leader, nor the last, who has found leading the Lord's people a heavier responsibility than he can discharge. Only the Lord's own compassion distilled into the prophets' hearts can keep them going.
God's caring for his people is also likened to that of a shepherd, as we see from many references. One of the most familiar descriptions of God's caring love is that which compares him to a shepherd. Isaiah says, "He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young" (Isa 40:11). God's caring includes children, nursing mothers and all who have special need of the Good Shepherd's care.
Stories of Comfort in the Old Testament
According to Genesis 5:28-29, Lamech (son of Methuselah, the oldest man that ever lived), when a son was born to him, decided to call him Noah. He did this because the Hebrew name Noah sounds like the word for 'comfort' and he believed that his baby son would help him and his wife to cope with the problems of hard work on unrewarding soil, after God had cursed the ground. True prophets are 'comforters' of those who find life hard, and the earth is a better place for their ministry.
When Jacob was shown the torn, blood-stained coat he had given to Joseph he cried out, "It is my son's coat! Some ferocious beast has devoured him..." (Gen 37:33). But when his sons and daughters assembled in their concern for him, he refused to be comforted. Like forgiveness, comfort needs to be accepted before it can effect its healing work.
He refused to be comforted and yet the truth of the matter was that his favourite son was alive and God's good purposes were one day to be revealed. The plans made by men and demons may have all the appearance of unmitigated disaster but in the end we shall be able to repeat Jacob's words, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" (Gen 50:20).
The plans made by men and demons may have all the appearance of unmitigated disaster, but in the end we shall be able to repeat Jacob's words that what others intended for harm, God intended for good.
Ruth had had a sad life and both she and her mother-in-law had lost their husbands. When the question was raised of their returning to Bethlehem, her sister-in-law Orpah went back to Moab, but Ruth insisted on returning with Naomi. When Ruth went into the field of Boaz to glean she found comfort in this upright man and she expressed her appreciation in these words: "You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant" (Ruth 2:13). In these days when so many marriages neither work out nor last, what compassion prophetic counsellors need to comfort single parents and their families and to attempt to sort out the complex problems brought about by child ¬abuse and homosexuality.
The God of All Comfort
When Jesus returned from his temptation by Satan in the wilderness he went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and in the synagogue on the Sabbath day he read from the scroll of Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me..." He claimed in the presence of his audience that that Scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. The passage in Isaiah, continuing from where he left off, reads "To comfort all who mourn" (Isa 61:2), so we can see that Messiah's ministry included that of bringing comfort.
Before Jesus left his disciples he introduced them to the One who was to come in his place. He explained that he was the Spirit of truth and the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:13), but he gave him a special name when he called him the paraclete, one who would come alongside his disciples after he had returned to his Father. The older versions of the Bible render this name the 'comforter'.
Jesus gave the Holy Spirit a special name when he called him the 'paraclete', one who would come alongside the disciples after he had returned to the Father.
As well as seeing in the coming of the Spirit the beginning of a new experience for the disciples as the paraclete comforted them at the return of Jesus to his Father, the New Testament shows that the coming of the Spirit makes possible a ministry of comfort to be conferred on Jesus' disciples as they receive the promised power from on high.
As Peter pointed out on the day of Pentecost, the result of the advent of the Spirit was that all Jesus' disciples would prophesy: "And they will prophesy" (Acts 2:18). This prophesying would take place in two main areas. First, in their world-wide prophetic witness (Acts 1:8), and secondly, in the assembly of God's people, where they would prophesy for the strengthening, encouragement and comfort of their fellow-believers (1 Cor 14:3).
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are thus seen to be each involved in a ministry of comfort and compassion, from which we have all benefited and in which we may all take part.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each involved in a ministry of comfort and compassion, from which we all benefit and in which we may all take part.
Let Paul have the last word: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we have ourselves received from God" (2 Cor 1:3-4).
First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 6, No 1, January/February 1989.
